Resident Evil: Retribution

  • Review Date: September 15, 2012
  • R
  • Genre: Horror
  • 2012
 Review

Common Sense Media says

Plenty of gore -- and more 3-D -- in fifth RE installment.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Kids say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that Resident Evil: Retribution is the fifth in the Resident Evil series of video game-based sci-fi/action/horror movies. Like the others, this one has strong sci-fi violence and gore (zombie and monster attacks), as well as guns and shooting and martial arts fighting. Many zombies expire, some humans die, and some blood is shown. There are a few scary and/or jump-shock moments as well. Language is less of an issue, with only a few uses of "s--t," and there's not much in the way of sexual content, though female characters do wear tight and/or skimpy clothes, and in one scene, the lead character wears a strange outfit that leaves very little to the imagination. Note: Watching the movie in 3-D increases the intensity of the viewing experience.

  • Alice seems colder and more callous in this entry in the movie series, except for one thing: She decides to rescue a little "clone" girl who's deaf and has been programmed to believe that Alice is her mother. Alice risks her life to protect the girl. There's also an attempt to show her working with others, but the characters aren't very interesting, and so this attempt doesn't come across clearly.
  • Although Alice's life isn't very admirable -- it's filled with fighting, violence, and killing and very little joy -- she is a strong, commanding, confident female character with incredible skills and instincts. She often stops to help others, even at the risk of her own life. The movie also shows Alice and the girl communicating via American Sign Language.
  • Very strong sci-fi/fantasy violence. Almost constant shooting, with countless zombies blowing up. Some human characters die. Blood is shown. In one brief sequence, a zombie chainsaws a man, and (fake-looking) blood spatters everywhere. There's some martial arts fighting; in one scene, a character swings a chain and padlock to bash zombies in the face. A baseball bat is used on zombies in another scene. A giant monster goes on the rampage, kidnapping a little girl. Viewers see bones breaking and hearts stopping in X-ray close-ups. Zombies have scary mutated tentacles shooting out of their mouths. Car crashes and explosions.
  • No one is thinking about sex here, but in one scene, Alice wakes up and finds herself almost naked, wearing two white sheets that cover her back and front. Nothing sensitive is shown, but at the same time, not much is left to the imagination. Women wear tight, sexy leather/vinyl outfits throughout. In one early scene, a husband and wife display affection for each other (including a butt slap).
  • Infrequent language includes a few uses of "s--t," plus "hell," "badass," etc.
  • A couple of scenes take place in a fake model of New York City. This contains a replica of Times Square, complete with billboards. Reebok, Levi's, and other brands are briefly visible.

What's the story?

Following the events of Resident Evil: Afterlife -- and a recap of all the movies so far -- Alice (Milla Jovovich) finds herself a prisoner of the Red Queen (a computer program bent on wiping out humankind). Unexpectedly, she's freed, aided by a tough, gun-toting beauty (Li Bingbing) and a crack rescue team. Unfortunately, to escape, they must make their way past a series of "test environments," arenas designed to look like Moscow, Tokyo, and New York, all full of zombies. And they only have two hours. To add to the trouble, Alice decides to rescue the clone of a little girl, and the mind-controlled Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory) is hot on their trail. But the question remains: Why was Alice freed, and what's the master plan behind it all?

Is it any good?

 

Writer/director Paul W.S. Anderson once again returns to the helm of this series, as he did for the first and fourth entries. And, like Afterlife, RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION is also presented in 3-D. But while the last movie felt clean and more character-focused, this one seems a good deal lazier, both in the writing and directing departments. For instance, Anderson comes up with a couple of potentially great martial arts fight scenes but edits them too quickly and lowers the emotional stakes.

Though several characters band together here, the movie doesn't seem to care about any of them, and none of them gets much more than a couple of tough-guy line readings. They never develop any personalities. Indeed, when characters start dying, it's hard to remember who's gone. The 3-D isn't used quite as well this time, either, and it often goes unnoticed. The visual effects are pretty much business as usual. As horror, it's not very spooky, except for a couple of typical jump-scares, and as sci-fi, it's not very brainy.


Explore, discuss, enjoy

  • Families can talk about Resident Evil: Retribution's violence. How did it make you feel? Were you scared? Were you grossed out?

  • Is Alice a strong female role model, or is she a stereotype?

  • How do the Resident Evil movies compare to the video games they're based on? Which is more entertaining -- the interactive zombie-killing experience, or the passive one?

  • Do you feel the need to see the latest Resident Evil movie just because you've seen the others? How does the latest one compare?


This review of Resident Evil: Retribution was written by
Teen, 13 years old
September 15, 2012
 
Epic!
Great movie! I love it
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Teen, 16 years old
September 16, 2012
 
go see it!
not that violent or scary. some language but who cares. 13 and up
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Teen, 15 years old
September 16, 2012
 
i am 12 and enjoyed it
. headshots stabbings bitting and lots of blood. 4 curse words the whole movie. 3 frighting scenes
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Parent
September 16, 2012
 
The Dude
I feel like it is an hour and a half of my life I will never get back. Complete waist of time.
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Adult
September 21, 2012
 
16 and up.
this fifth installment Resident Evil: Retribution has all the familiar characters from the resident evil game franchise and has a lot of action that will likely appeal to your older teens but parents you need to know that Resident Evil: Retribution has a lot of intense violence and some mild language used.
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Teen, 15 years old
September 26, 2012
 
Great movie
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Parent
September 28, 2012
 
Resident Evil: Retribution (2012) Review by Shivom Oza – Visually Flawless, Same Old Action-Template
‘Resident Evil: Retribution’, fifth film in the franchise, is nothing different from the rest. Honestly, too much is being done of this post-apocalyptic business! Filmmakers need to find newer settings. In almost every action film, there’s this after-the-end-of-the-world shanty township encroached upon by violent elements. It’s not working anymore. The story is not too different from the other films of the ‘Resident Evil’ series. To the credit of the filmmakers, the plot is kept concise and thankfully, short! Post-apocalyptic setting, Alice (Milla Jovovich) wakes up in an Umbrella base, having been captured at the Arcadia. Upon being interrogated by Jill (Sienna Guillory), Alice realizes that something is amiss. An unexpected power failure enables Alice to escape from her cell. Here, she encounters Ada Wong (Bingbing Li), from Albert Wesker’s (Shawn Roberts) team. Apparently, Ada and Wesker no longer belong to Umbrella. Wesker needs Alice’s help to battle the base’s supercomputer Red Queen (Megan Charpentier), in order to save the remaining of mankind. The build-up given to all the action sequences is fantastic. Not only has the cinematography (sublime work by Glen MacPherson) excelled, but the entire team contributing to the visuals (art direction, production design, editing, special effects etc.) have done a marvellous job! The opening credits, in particular, present scintillating visuals of Milla strutting all her action moves with a lot of gumption! Direction by Paul W.S. Anderson is just about fine. Performances by the cast are decent, nothing spectacular. The film will be enjoyed by fans of the ‘Resident Evil’ franchise and, in general, action movies! Luckily, the 90-odd minute duration works in the film’s favour. Watch it for the spectacular cinematography and the brilliantly-executed action sequences! Yes, there is a sixth film in the pipeline. Shivom Oza
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Teen, 14 years old
September 26, 2012
 
it was ok
Resident Evil Retribution is just as dull and Lifeless like its previous instalments. In my opinion the film could have work if Paul Anderson put more effort in writing , directing and editing. The acting was not the best although it could have been better. The action scenes were great. You should expect a lot of shooting, blood ,explosion, some language Althouh the plot could have worked really well but instead they focused on the action sequence more. And the movie was really short. But over all I enjoyed the film
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Teen, 17 years old
October 2, 2012
 
Resident Evil 5
I recently got into the Resident Evil series. I think this was another great, if not the best of the movies to date. I've seen it twice in the past two weeks and plan to get the blu-ray when it comes out. There's nothing that is really unappropriate for anyone over the age of 14. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes post-apocalyptic movies.
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Teen, 16 years old
October 15, 2012
 
You should know about the violence in Zombie movies
Like the other movies, this one is violent. It has zombies! Not the best one in the series, but it is still good.
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This review of Resident Evil: Retribution was written by
Topics:monsters, ghosts, and vampires
Studio:Sony Pictures
Director:Paul W.S. Anderson
Cast:Michelle Rodriguez, Milla Jovovich, Sienna Guillory
Genre:Horror
Run time:117 minutes
Theatrical release date:September 14, 2012
DVD release date:December 21, 2012
MPAA rating:R
MPAA explanation:sequences of strong violence throughout

This review of Resident Evil: Retribution was written by
 

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